by Tessa Radley
He shook her hand away impatiently. “I need to speak to Jay.”
The rejection pierced her, but Georgia pushed her feelings aside. “You’ve just had a health scare. Why don’t you ease up on meetings for a couple of weeks and take—”
“Ah, good, here’s Jay now.” He cut her off mid-sentence and sat up.
A wave of energy swept into the ward along with Jay. After she’d been dealing with her father, Jay looked like a glimpse of heaven.
For the first time, she wondered what role he would play in her father’s new vision of the company. As her father’s confidant—especially if he managed to bring Charis back into the fold as his bride—he’d have untold power.
Would that satisfy him? Or would he want more? He was too clever, too knowledgeable not to know his own worth. She narrowed her gaze as she contemplated him. Tall. Dynamic. Confident. Ambitious. A force to be reckoned with.
“Did you bring the resolutions?” her father barked.
“What resolutions?” she asked Jay.
“Good afternoon, Kingston, glad to hear you’re feeling better. Hello again, Georgia.”
“What resolutions?” she repeated.
Jay’s smile revealed a set of slashing dimples that she couldn’t remember ever noticing before. But his smile didn’t reach the hazel eyes that saw far too much.
He tapped the leather folio he carried. “Got them right here.”
Georgia felt herself stiffen. “Those empower me to run the company while Kingston recuperates, right?”
Jay shook his head, and her blood ran cold.
“Then what are they for?” she demanded.
“They authorize a fresh annual general meeting.”
For the board appointments. Nothing ominous in that.
She switched her attention back to her father. She’d had enough of the rumor roller coaster. “Norman and Jimmy are standing down from the board, aren’t they?”
“You keep doing your damned job—let me worry about Kingdom,” her father snapped.
What was that supposed to mean?
Something dark flashed across Jay’s face.
Georgia bit back the torrent of curses that threatened to tumble out of her mouth. “I’m on the Managing Committee—and so is Roberta,” she said calmly. “You’ve taught us everything we know.” While they might never have served on the Board of Directors, they were heavily involved in the day-to-day executive management of the company—she pretty much did Norman’s entire job already. “Allow us a chance to do what you’ve trained us to do.”
“And where is Roberta now?” Kingston raised his eyebrows. “Shopping? Or preparing to jet off to flaunt herself in the fashion capitals of Europe again? She’s certainly not here!”
“That’s not fair!” Georgia balled her fists. “She was here most of the night. Then she took Marcia home.”
Jay interjected calmly, “I’ve spoken to Roberta—she’s on her way back.”
Georgia smiled across at him in gratitude, and a little of her head-crushing tension eased. “I don’t suppose anyone has heard from Charis?”
Kingston snorted. “Charis had better not set foot in the Kingdom offices or in any of my stores. She walked out. Call security the instant she’s seen.”
A chill spread through Georgia. But business was the only language her father understood. Rubbing her arms, she said, “We need Charis to finalize the spring collection designs.”
“I do not need her. Kingdom certainly doesn’t need her.” Kingston’s eyes blazed. “She’s no daughter of mine. Never speak of her again!”
Shock and something close to horror filled Georgia.
He’d meant it.
She crossed her arms over her chest. She’d been so sure he’d get over yesterday’s fit of rage. Although his blatant favoritism for Charis had eaten away at her for years, she was stunned at how easily he’d written her sister off without a backward look.
Fear seeped into her. She tightened her arms over her chest, guarding her heart. A quick glance revealed that Jay was watching her. She hoped like hell he couldn’t read her terror.
She might be next...
The click of heels in the corridor outside caused her heart to skip.
What if it was Charis? How would her father react?
“About time you arrived,” Kingston grumbled as Roberta breezed into the room in a cloud of French fragrance.
Georgia let out the breath that had caught in her throat and her arms fell to her sides.
“Good to see you’re as easy-going as ever, Kingston.” Bending over the hospital bed, Roberta blew an air-kiss at their father’s forehead.
Roberta’s makeup was flawless, her lush figure encased in a wrap dress that accentuated every natural asset she had. From the way Kingston was scowling, he’d noticed, too.
“That dress belongs under a streetlamp.”
Roberta did a little pirouette. “You think? I think it’s perfect.”
Kingston’s eyes had narrowed to slits. But instead of getting into an argument, he sat up and growled, “Did you bring that pack of cigarettes?”
Georgia opened her mouth to scold him, but Roberta only laughed.
“You need to take better care of yourself,” Georgia warned him.
“The cardiologist said I’m as good as new—”
“Not quite! On the phone, he told me that you need some stress-relief strategies.” In his fit of rage yesterday, her father had apparently begun hyperventilating. Both the cardiologist and her father’s concierge doctor warned it could happen again. “Why not take it easy for a couple of weeks? It will be a good opportunity to test out the succession plan we’ve discussed—”
“Bah!” Kingston snorted, his tone full of disgust. “You’re not running the company.”
Georgia stared at him. “I’m more than capable—”
“I will be back in the corner suite on Monday.”
The familiar knot started to wind tight in Georgia’s stomach. She drew a deep breath, held it for a second and breathed out. One count at a time.
“Can’t you at least activate the backup plan we agreed to, Kingston? For the company’s sake? What if something really is wrong? What if you become ill over the weekend?” All the possible catastrophes that had been playing through her mind came tumbling out. “And what if they don’t discharge you this weekend—and you can’t be at the office on Monday?”
“Then I’ll authorize Jay to act as interim CEO.”
Jay?
Georgia’s breath hissed out and she switched her attention back to where Jay stood silhouetted against the window, the Hudson River glittering in the distance beyond.
Her father was lining up Jay to take her place as his successor. She wasn’t just being paranoid.
Her throat closed up. Had Jay been angling for this ever since his first day at Kingdom? She hadn’t been there when he’d arrived. She’d been in the hospital. Being immobilized following the surgery to her ankle had been bad enough, but it had been the concussion and memory loss that had worried the doctors more.
Despite Jay’s easy smile, she’d prickled with hostility from the first day she’d arrived back at work. Jay’s competence had radiated from him; he made Ridley look like an intern. Slowly, stealthily, he’d become a greater threat than she’d ever imagined. But she wasn’t about to let him oust her from the position that would one day be hers.
Jay finally spoke. “I’m afraid I’m not available to serve as interim CEO, Kingston.”
Shock caused Georgia to freeze. Jay was refusing her father? He’d had her dream handed to him on a plate and he was turning the chance to run Kingdom down?
Wasn’t this what Jay wanted?
Her father and Roberta both turned to look at Jay where he lounged with apparent unconcern against the window.
&nbs
p; “What do you mean you’re not available?” Kingston raged.
Jay’s tone remained level. “I won’t be here.”
Georgia finally remembered. “He’s going on leave.”
“Cancel it!” Kingston was struggling to get out of the bed.
Georgia leaped forward. “Father, settle down.”
He ignored her, all his attention on the man behind her. “I need you in New York, Jay.”
“Kingdom will run just fine without me.” The slight upward kink of his lips didn’t change Jay’s resolute expression. “I’ll check my emails and take some calls while I’m away. But I’ll be back before any of you notice I’ve been gone.”
I would notice.
The thought caught Georgia by surprise.
Kingston sighed loudly. “Then I’ll have to make sure I’m back at work on Monday. Georgia—”
Shutting down her thoughts, she replied automatically, “Yes?”
“Get Marcia to arrange for Bruno to collect me at the usual time, will you?”
Georgia started to object, but then shrugged. What was the point? “Yes, Kingston.”
“Oh, and, Roberta, I’m still waiting for that pack of cigarettes.”
“Anything else you need?” Roberta asked, her voice saccharine-sweet.
From under heavy eyebrows, he glared first at her, then at Georgia. “A little cooperation from both of you would be helpful.”
Roberta didn’t flinch. “Ah, loyalty I think you called it yesterday?”
Georgia tensed, waiting for her father to explode.
But the strident ring of Roberta’s phone interrupted the storm. Her sister glanced down at the device and pursed her lush lips. Not for the first time, Georgia noticed the fine lines around her immaculately made-up eyes. Roberta was feeling the strain, too. She’d been...different. Distracted. Distant.
“Give me a moment. I’ve got to deal with this.” Roberta was already on her way to the door. “It won’t take long.”
Abandoned by her sister, Georgia turned to face her father. But she wasn’t alone—Jay still lounged against the window, and Georgia was tinglingly conscious of his narrow-eyed appraisal.
“Forget about your half-cocked succession plan. I need you, Georgia.” Her father gave her a weak smile. “Fordyce is a damn fine businessman. He’s prepared to do a deal—he needs a wife. And he’s exactly what our business needs in the long term.”
Our business.
Georgia felt her heart melt. Her father needed her. He’d never admitted that before. The urge to do what he wanted—to gain his approval—pulled at her. But she was uncomfortably aware of Jay witnessing their intimate family drama in silence from the window.
So she brought it back to business. “Kingston, you know my views on bringing outsiders onto the board. It’s far better to build succession from within the company.”
“That’s crap!”
“It’s absolutely not!” she argued.
“Georgia is right. Internal promotion means far fewer surprises.”
Georgia shouldn’t have been astonished by Jay’s support. After all, her argument for promotion from within worked in his favor, as well as her own. But he’d just turned down a shot at interim CEO...
What did Jay want?
Was he an ally or a foe?
“We’ve tried developing internal candidates before.” Her father’s gaze bored into her. “Haven’t we, Georgia?”
Shame stained her cheeks and discomfort crawled in her belly. She didn’t want to talk about Ridley. Not now. Not ever. “That was different.”
“How?” her father challenged.
She certainly wasn’t discussing Ridley in front of Jay. “You’re missing the point. I can easily—”
Kingston flapped a dismissive hand. “You’re not up to running Kingdom.”
“At this stage, it would only be for a few days—”
“A few days too long!” He gave a dismissive snort. “I’m not taking that risk.”
Then he collapsed back against the pillows and flung a forearm across his eyes. For the first time, he looked old...and beaten.
“I’m only asking you to do one thing for me—put my mind at rest and marry Fordyce.” His lips barely moved. He was asking for her help.
How could she say no?
A piercing pain stabbed behind her eyes. The one thing that she’d learned from the Ridley catastrophe was that she was terrible at romance. She’d sworn off marriage—she didn’t even date.
Now, Kingston wanted her to marry Adam Fordyce.
No dating—and no romance—required.
Jay was still watching her from his position beside the window, his expression shuttered.
Her gaze slid away from his scrutiny.
Would marrying Adam Fordyce bring her closer to what she’d wanted since she was a little girl, who visited the Kingdom offices and sat and twirled around in her father’s high-backed leather desk chair? Her head threatened to explode. Was her father right? Would Adam mentor her and ensure she got what she’d always wanted? Or would he snatch away her dreams forever?
She’d always obeyed her father. But this...? She needed to list the pros and cons the way she always did when she made a decision. But more than that, she needed space...and a shot of black gold.
Grabbing her tote from where it sat on the chair against the wall, she said, “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. Can I get you one, Jay?”
He pushed himself away from the window.
She didn’t want him accompanying her. She wanted to think. Alone. “I won’t be long.”
For once, she didn’t want Jay’s perspective. This was too personal.
But he didn’t take the hint. His smile was easy as he came toward her. “It will give me a chance to stretch my legs—and I need to make some calls.”
As she reached the doorway, Kingston called out, “And don’t forget to bring me back a goddamned pack of cigarettes!”
Georgia stalked out and resisted the urge to slam the door.
* * *
It didn’t take long for Jay to catch up with Georgia. As he came up alongside her, she quickened her pace.
Ducking her head down, she said, “So tell me...honestly...were Norman and Jimmy really going to retire and stand down had yesterday’s annual general meeting gone ahead? Was there ever any chance of Roberta and I being appointed to the Board of Directors?”
Jay wished he could give her the answer she so badly wanted to hear. “Who knows what’s going on in your father’s head—I suspect he’ll persuade his golf cronies to stay another term.”
They reached the elevator and the doors slid open, revealing an empty car.
Georgia stepped in. “For one glorious instant, I actually believed my father had recognized all the work I’ve put into the company. I should’ve known better.” She laughed, but the sound held little amusement. “He never had any intention of letting me in—not even temporarily. He wants a man in control.” She stabbed a button on the control panel. “Someone like you.”
Jay moved in front of the elevator doors and spun around to face her, giving her no choice but to look up at him. He was overwhelmingly conscious of her closeness...the fine grain of her pale skin, the bright blue of her eyes, the familiar scent of her...all the intimate details he had no right to appreciate.
He found his voice. “Not me. I’m not available.”
A frown pleated her forehead. “You can tell him that all you like. It’s not going to stop him. He’ll talk you into it once you get back from vacation—he always gets what he wants. And you’ll be married off to Charis before you can say—”
“That’s not happening, either!”
“Don’t be so sure.” Her gaze lifted to focus somewhere above his head—the floor indicators, perhaps. “He’s already convinced Adam F
ordyce to marry me.”
“But you’re not going along with that.”
Georgia gave no sign of hearing a word of what he was saying, whereas he couldn’t think of anything but her...
“He’ll have his way—just wait and see. He never gives up until he gets what he wants. God knows who he’s lined up for Roberta. That’s going to cause fireworks, for sure.” Georgia’s eyes returned to lock with his. “Three successors for his beloved company. Three daughters—who come with stock certificates pinned to their wedding dresses—to dangle as carrots.”
Georgia was angrier than he’d ever seen her.
“Roberta and I will never have feet big enough to fill his shoes—” She broke off as the elevator car came to a halt. “And besides that, we have lady parts.”
How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?
She didn’t give him a chance. Brushing past him, she said over her shoulder, “And who can argue with him? He’ll only fire anyone who dissents! He’s the boss.”
Jay strode after her. “Georgia—”
With increasing frustration, he listened to the rapid click-clacking of her boot heels along the hospital corridor. For all his talk, the old man wouldn’t be stupid enough to fire her. Kingston’s insane scheme had already cost him one of the most talented young designers in the business. Losing Charis was going to create havoc in the coming months. And it was the same with Georgia. She knew too much about the inner workings of Kingdom for her father ever to risk getting rid of her.
The coffee shop loomed up ahead with its racks of magazines, floral bouquets tied with ribbons and the aroma of strong coffee.
It was now or never...
Kingston was going to be fine. Jay hesitated mid-step.
No, not now. She was far too worked up.
Coward.
But he forced himself to commit to some kind of action, saying, “That talk you and I need to have—how about I buy you a drink tomorrow night?”
“What?” She swung around, eyes blank with confusion.
